Games You're Playing Right Now III: Return Of The Protagonist

[ICE]

Playing Skyrim and Might and Magic 8 (again).  With a side of Dark Souls whenever I'm in the mood for soul-destroying hell (that game is HARD)

[チソウ タイゼン]

Oh, boy.
Every time we come to my brother's house it's always CoD time.

Currently trying to mindlessly murder assholes from the Internet who love to wield shotguns and crouch like douchebags, and when they inevitably kill you with their idiotically improbable aiming skills they unfailingly will teabag you somewhere along your floppy, ragdoll corpse and proudly exclaim that "you got owned," except in such a manner as to make english teachers around the world collectively facepalm.

Then why is it fun?

[Zil]

You're supposed to use a grenade launcher and launch things everywhere like a buffoon, and when you have only one explosive device reamaining use it to kill yourself and respawn with more. That's the fun way to play.

[Formless God]

Playing MH Freedom Unite @ HR4. That feel when you just finished off a Gypceros with 3 mins left on the clock.
The game is pretty good buuuut the PSP's controls are ass, plus my right hand gets really sore after a while.

also this

[theshirn]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah tuesday hurry up

[Garlyle]

Man, now that I've actually been sitting down to play FFXIII-2 I am loving it.

I am slightly disappointed over the Lightning DLC at the moment though.  NOT because it was a bad fight - for where I was in the game (Just a chunk into chapter 5), this was actually a brilliant fight that I was pretty much perfectly matched for - it took a good fourteen minutes and pretty much never let up onto being "easier" at any given point.  It was even more technical than the

Spoiler:

Cid Raines

fight that was a highlight for many people in the original.  No, my disappointment comes from the fact that I am going to have to do it several times if I want a shot at recruiting Amodar or Lightning, because they have a low drop rate.  And for now I can about give up on getting Lightning since I have to kill her second, and that's just about impossible because Amodar is resilient as hell.

Otherwise though, seriously, I am loving it.  I'd complain a bit about the game being too easy, but then I go back to try to beat Full Power Atlas or bonus bosses that I already have access to instead, and pretty much shut myself up.

Oh, and I guess I could complain about the writing.  Caius is turning into the FF villain I give the least shits about really quickly (He was interesting at first and now he's just... not - this is an extreme contrast to Bartandalus, who I thought was a completely pointless villain at first and on my second playthrough of XIII realised he was possibly the most geniusly manipulative bastard in the series) and there's a bit of "Just nod your head and accept it we'll explain later" going on for things, which I am sort of willing to dismiss because time travel will do that to a story, but... I'm having such fun I just don't really care.

EDIT: Funny that I went "I love it, but here's three paragraphs about things I'm a little underwhelmed by".  Really though, I am enjoying it a whole lot.

Also my party's COM monster is a Behemoth named Furball who wears a carbuncle statue on his head.  Can't really beat that.

[The ⑨th Zentillion]

Went back to playing Symphony of the Night after not touching it for a month or two, got everything the castle. Hooray!

Spoiler:

Now for the Inverted Castle. Dohoho.

[Dr.Strafe]

Yeah, I had taken a break (and then forgot about) FF XIII-2 for a couple of weeks. Now, I have managed to beat the game.

Overall, I enjoyed the game. The writing got a bit *ugh* at times. It seemed that "Paradox" was their handwave explanation for "something is broken; go fix it". It was weird being the only person (couple, if you will) that could access the time portals, when virtually all of the NPCs knew about the portals, paradoxes, artifacts, etc.

Like I said before, it was nice to see the previous characters again. However, it was not really explained how they ended up in different time periods as well. Hope's reason was explained, yes, but not anyone else. I especially would have liked to know what events led up to

Spoiler:

Snow becoming a l'Cie again..

I pretty much agree with Garlyle on how bland Caius is as a villain. He's got his goals, sure, but there just isn't much depth to his character. However,

Spoiler:

this seems to only be a setup for the next game.

Spoiler:

Yeah, things get pretty fucked up once Caius is finally defeated.

I am pretty disappointed in the "unfinished" areas of the game. Much of Serendipity is locked for DLC, and I'm starting to think that the Coliseum is like that too. I checked in there many times, only to be told that "the time isn't right". Even returning after beating the game, I get the same message. *sigh*

As it stands right now, I only have 75 of the 160 Fragments in the game. I plan on collecting all of them, as I hear there is a bonus ending for doing so. Time to get to work!

By the way, I totally LOVED some of the boss fights in this game. Especially the final fight and the one against

Spoiler:

the Proto fal'Cie.

[Grand Octopus]

Irisu Syndrome.

 :colonveeplusalpha:

[Chaotic Phoenixma]

Started playing Phantasy Star and Shining Force on the 360 Genesis Collection. I'm planning to play through all the RPGs on the thing, and I'm expecting that to take a very long time.

[Phlegeth]

Started playing Phantasy Star and Shining Force on the 360 Genesis Collection. I'm planning to play through all the RPGs on the thing, and I'm expecting that to take a very long time.

Phantasy Star and Shining Force are pretty short though.  Less then 20 hours apiece.  Phantasy Star 2 on the other hand...

[Chaotic Phoenixma]

Is there anything potentially game ruining like FFT's Riovanes or other multibattle sequences? Not that I ever had a run ruined by those fights in FFT, but it'd definitely be nice to know if there's anything to worry about with Shining Force.

[Garlyle]

Overall, I enjoyed the game. The writing got a bit *ugh* at times. It seemed that "Paradox" was their handwave explanation for "something is broken; go fix it". It was weird being the only person (couple, if you will) that could access the time portals, when virtually all of the NPCs knew about the portals, paradoxes, artifacts, etc.

Like I said before, it was nice to see the previous characters again. However, it was not really explained how they ended up in different time periods as well. Hope's reason was explained, yes, but not anyone else. I especially would have liked to know what events led up to

Spoiler:

Snow becoming a l'Cie again..

Apparently there are a LOT of things that are detailed in the game's Fragments more than directly addressed, so you might want to go through and read them sometime.  There's some surprises you might not have caught, including among other things, the identity of Chocolina (Which can also be discovered by playing the Sazh DLC)

I am pretty disappointed in the "unfinished" areas of the game. Much of Serendipity is locked for DLC, and I'm starting to think that the Coliseum is like that too. I checked in there many times, only to be told that "the time isn't right". Even returning after beating the game, I get the same message. *sigh*

The Colosseum that you unlock as part of the story is really just there to introduce you to the Arbiter.  The actual Colosseum DLC fights are in an entirely separate Colosseum instance that will be unlocked around then.  If you are at all interested in the Lightning/Amodar fight I'd get it soon.  If not... well, there's at least two more on the way - one of which has fights with Gilgamesh, ana an "unrevealed villain from FFVI" (!?) ; and the other of which will apparently be a fight with Jihl Nabaat from XIII.
As for Serendipity... apparently they fucked up the coding of that area and couldn't actually complete it, so you can't even access them in Serendipity proper; you have to go to the Sazh DLC instance of Serendipity to play the new games.

As it stands right now, I only have 75 of the 160 Fragments in the game. I plan on collecting all of them, as I hear there is a bonus ending for doing so. Time to get to work!

There's also 8 other endings to get!  Go get Paradox Scope from the Mystic now and equip it, and some of the fights (Such as Oerba 200AF's and Augusta Tower 200F's) will power up and give you a secondary ending; alternatively, there's also ones just for beating Atlas (Bresha 5AF) and The Royal Ripeness (whatever the fuck the start of chapter 3B's location/time was) at full power.

By the way, I totally LOVED some of the boss fights in this game. Especially the final fight and the one against

Spoiler:

the Proto fal'Cie.

Oh god,

Spoiler:

The Proto Fal'cie

fight was really awesome, yes.  I need to go hunting some of the sidequest bosses, though...

[Dr.Strafe]

Yeah, I guess I need to read up on the entries provided by the fragments. I'm not playing on an HD TV, so text is kinda hard to read! :V

So, there's more to the DLC than I had originally thought. To be honest, I'm not thrilled about having to pay more for the other options, but that's just how things are in games nowadays. The "unrevealed villain from FFVI" and fight with Jihl Nabaat just might talk me into getting some of the DLC someday. :3

There's also 8 other endings to get! Go get Paradox Scope from the Mystic...

Yep. Already on it. I have 3 more Paradox endings left to acquire.    The Paradox Scope really doesn't change much from the original fight. The boss' stats are higher, but the fight is virtually the same.

Spoiler:

After having fought Caius several times, (2 of which in the final boss marathon) you can easily squash his "stronger" version in Oerba 200AF.

I managed to take out the stronger Atlas and Royal Ripeness before I even ventured into 500AF.

[Garlyle]

Yeah, I guess I need to read up on the entries provided by the fragments. I'm not playing on an HD TV, so text is kinda hard to read! :V

If you haven't yet, go into Options and set the text to be increased in size.  A surprisingly large number of people miss that you can do this.  It's still small, but it's far LESS small.

So, there's more to the DLC than I had originally thought. To be honest, I'm not thrilled about having to pay more for the other options, but that's just how things are in games nowadays. The "unrevealed villain from FFVI" and fight with Jihl Nabaat just might talk me into getting some of the DLC someday. :3

Well, the USUAL way that Square adds additional content is to do it all at once and then release an International/Final Mix version of the game with it all, but for the same price as the original game (and, you know, never coming out in english).  DLC isn't the best scheme, but it's actually somewhat preferrable to the traditional way of doing things!

Yep. Already on it. I have 3 more Paradox endings left to acquire.    The Paradox Scope really doesn't change much from the original fight. The boss' stats are higher, but the fight is virtually the same.

Spoiler:

After having fought Caius several times, (2 of which in the final boss marathon) you can easily squash his "stronger" version in Oerba 200AF.

I managed to take out the stronger Atlas and Royal Ripeness before I even ventured into 500AF.

I have heard horror stories about the

Spoiler:

solo fight between Serah and Caius with Paradox Scope

, because apparently he can pretty much kill you even if you're maxed or close.  Everyone says it's made easier if you

Spoiler:

have a really good SEN mon present throughout the fight

, but I'm not far enough to answer that personally... at least, not just yet.

[Hanzo K.]

Started playing Digimon World DS lately.
So far I've got a lot of digimon with the Prissy and Energetic personalities.
One has the Graceful personality, which makes it act like a typical Yamato Nadeshiko.
..It's a Kuwagamon. AKA, one of these guys.

The Prissy ones never stop asking who my second favorite digimon is.
If you've played Tales of Symphonia, and know me well enough, you'd know that I had a Zelos moment.

[Dr.Strafe]

If you haven't yet, go into Options and set the text to be increased in size.  A surprisingly large number of people miss that you can do this.  It's still small, but it's far LESS small.

Well, damn. That would have been nice to notice earlier when I was grinding through all of the quizzes. I don't want to see Captain Cryptic ever again. :V

I have heard horror stories about the

Spoiler:

solo fight between Serah and Caius with Paradox Scope

, because apparently he can pretty much kill you even if you're maxed or close.  Everyone says it's made easier if you

Spoiler:

have a really good SEN mon present throughout the fight

, but I'm not far enough to answer that personally... at least, not just yet.

Yeah, that's the only Paradox Ending I have left now. MAN, it is brutal. I'm going to have to rework my Paradigm set up and raise up a couple of better monsters to help in that fight.  Unfortunately, (at this time) Serah just isn't that strong to be able to do any lasting damage. Every time I manage to get a Stagger (or close to it), he will break the combo. By the time I erase the boss' buffs and get to a safe margin to continue fighting, nearly all of his HP is restored. Anytime that my support character isn't a Sentinel, the boss goes berserk on Serah.

Noel's version wasn't anywhere as bad, even being a 1 on 1 fight.

But the good news is that I finally obtained all of those elusive Wild Fragments. This Paradox Ending is the only thing left to open up on the Crux. Fragments: 102/160.

[[K]KoaMeow]

Owning people with the XM2010 in Counter-Strike Online, SG/MY Version. Lovin' the new sniper rifle.

[Chaotic Phoenixma]

Postponing the Genesis RPGs I'm playing to finally actually play DDS2.

I've actually had the game for over a year(new copy) and only opened it today. Started on Hard mode. Imported a file with all the first playthrough DDS stuff done. I'll go back and do a NG+ run for Demifiend some other day.


I'm planning to do the Satan fight in DDS2, but preparing for that won't even be a concern for quite a while.

[Hanzo K.]

Just started Ace Attorney Investigations 1 a night or two ago, currently on case 3 so far.
Totally loving the logic and deduction systems. And arguing out the flaws in testimonies with other prosecutors and witnesses is funner than I imagined.
All in all, great game, would recommend to friends.

[チソウ タイゼン]

Oh lordy P4

Why is it so hard to romance Naoto :I

[Nekomata-chan]

I'm playing Mabinogi, DarkOrbit, Lord of Ultima, Sims 3 and Runescape.

I've been told I'm not a mainstream gamer. I guess I can agree...

[Chaotic Phoenixma]

I was wondering when I'd hit that boss that's gonna make me grind some levels and actually get some better skills learned on my characters kind of like several of Nocturne's bosses, some of P3's bosses, etc. Definitely need some levels cause I actually died in one set of the boss's turns and I obviously need better healing and damage skills.

DDS2 hard Mode

Spoiler:

Abaddon

[Phlegeth]

I've been playing Skyrim again.  I've been working on the Oblivion Walker trophy.  I figured since I was doing that I might as well look the part and raised my smithing up and made Daedric Armor.  I look evil.
And I've found four: Wabbajack, Sanguine Rose, The Black Star, and Masque of Clavicus Vile.  Now I'm off to get Mehrune's Razor.

[Hanzo K.]

Hoo boy, think I just found a new timesink.
Granado Espada, an MMO where you play as a family of 'Pioneers' exploring the new continent of Granado Espada.
Each generic you create falls under the Family Name, though you can also Recruit other, non-family, NPCs, each with their own idiosyncrasies and perks.

A fun quirk about this game, compared to other MMOs? You don't just control one character, no. You control THREE!
There are a set few classes to work with for generics though, which is rather nice.

Scout - Healer, Buffer, Supporter, Jack of All Trades Dagger-User
Fighter - Tank, Frontliner, Beatstick, Swords and other sundry pointy stuff are his(or her) forte.
Wizard - Buffer, Healer, Scout, but no traps, and more buffz/healz.
Elementalist - Straight-up magical nuker, comes in 3 different flavors! Burnin' Hot Fire, Refreshingly Cool Ice, and Shockingly Sour Lightning!
Musketeer - These blokes are experts with all things boomstick. Pistols, Muskets, Rifles, you name it. If it's a gun, they use it!

Pretty sure I'm missin' some, but eh, that's what the link's for. 'sides, you can just ask Bystander or something, he knows way more than me.

Anyways, if you guys wanna give it a shot, then go for it. Even this clunky vista can run it relatively well!

[The ⑨th Zentillion]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention I finished Symphony of the Night. Brilliant, beautiful game. Doing a second playthrough, man I went through it faster than last time. partly because I'm more experienced, and partly because of a certain drop that only appears once you have a single clearfile. Dericious! ...Also attempted

Spoiler:

Richter Mode

. Man, it's hard.

[Garlyle]

Don't mind me, I'm just crying over pigeons

[theshirn]

Don't mind me, I'm just crying over pigeons

you are a horrible person :<

[Reddyne]

I just finished up Bulletstorm (good fun and pretty, but still too 'modern' for its own good) over the weekend and began Serious Sam 3, now with very pretty graphics and just as much ridiculousness. I can't say it's GOTY material, but I loved the first two for how stupidly simple yet action-packed they were.

May also start a game of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, too. Installed a recommended official fan (?) patch of some sort. If there is any legitimate reason that I will have more fun as a race other than Malkavian, speak now or forever zip your lip. Munchkins be damned. Loonie is where it's at.

[Hanzo K.]

I'll drink to that! I hear the malks actually break the 4th wall a lot, and it's actually the game's plot itself they mention.